A blog about homesteading, homeschooling, and gardening, with a dash of humor and sprinkle of sarcasm. Also a lot of ranting about...um...everything. (All opinions expressed are my own and do not reflect those of my employers, clients, fellow homesteaders, or the world at large.)

About Me

Country Wife is a freelance journalist/blogger/writer who lives on a small farmstead in central Ohio with her husband Eöl (pronounced Owl), and her youngest daughter, the infamous Little Sis. She is grandmother (Nanny/Nana) to four grandchildren, Chipmunk and Bear being the local ones.
Come join her on her various homesteading adventures (and misadventures).

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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Quilts

I have issues. Big surprise there, huh? But yeah, I have major issues with following directions and doing things just the same as everyone else. Especially when it comes to quilts.

My grandmother made the most amazing quilts. I don't think she ever made two alike. My favorites were her Little Dutch Girl (Sunbonnet Sue) quilts, and her patchwork quilts. Often, quilt pieces were made from old clothes, or leftover scraps from other sewing projects. I have one quilt that contains pieces of fabric leftover from a skirt she made for me. I don't have the skirt anymore...no idea whatever happened to it...but I do still have the quilt. Another quilt contains many pieces made from her old dresses. I can remember her wearing each of those dresses, and that makes the quilt even more special.

When I mentioned making a new baby quilt, a friend of mine asked if I was going to buy one of those quilt making kits from a local fabric store. Yikes. I can't even imagine putting all that work and creative energy into something that...well...anyone could have one just like it. I want my quilts to be as special to my loved ones as my grandmother's are to me.

The Cat Stairway To Heaven wall hanging is the only one that pretty much follows a pattern. When I ran across the pattern online, I knew I had to make it for my mother in law. She's an awesome lady and she adores cats. She makes the most remarkable baskets, which have become family heirlooms already....maybe..if I ever pass them on to my kids. For now, I'm hoarding them. lol

Cat Stairway To Heaven wall hanging

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The checkerboards were inspired by something I saw in a catalog, and I made several for family members one Christmas.

Quilted Checkerboard

The Fairy Dutch Girls were for Little Sis, when she still believed in fairies and adored pink.

Fairy Dutch Girl Quilt

The hand print Christmas wall hanging was for my mom, who has made many outfits for my kids over the years, most of which I have put in a special box to be handed down to their own children. I borrowed this back from her to make one for myself...eventually.

Hand print quilted wall hanging

I'm hoping to get a decent start on the new quilt once the holiday rush is over. I have the design laid out in my head, but the fabric pattern changes with my mood. I'll be honored if, one day, there's nothing left of the quilt but a worn out rag. My grandmother made a pink quilt with bunnies on it, thinking that Biggest Brother would be a girl. He wasn't, obviously, but he loved that quilt and drug it around for so many years that all the bunnies wore off, the filling wadded up in one corner, and it was ragged from end to end. More than two decades later, he still has what's left of it, plus a lot of memories of his great granny.

Quilts are really just warm hugs passed from generation to generation.